it is an very old disagreement between positive reinforcement trainers and >>punishment trainers.
With my dogs {and my kids} I use positive reinforcement and "punishment", depending on the dog and the situation.
I don't think either one is the right way in every situation.
When Duke does something unacceptable and I say "Bad boy Duke", he tries getting back on my good side right away. He don't like "bad boy"! Daisy's still learning what's acceptable, but when I say "DAISY!!" She stops whatever it is and swaggers slowly over to me. I do my mommy "babble" and then a quick little pet to show her we're square. I just can't be angry with them . . . They're too cute!
My trainer suggested the empty can with pennies when Champ dosen't respond to the "NO". Whenever that can goes down he stops immediatly and looks at me from the corner of his eye and walks away with his head down. After a few seconds he starts walking slowly to me still with his head low and very little eye contact and lays practicaly on top of me and falls asleep. Little brat knows just how to melt my heart. I do make him suffer for a while, o.k maybe a few minutes then I can't help myself and I give in.
the penny thing never worked for me.
It works wonders for us except we have to use it sparingly so he dosen't catch on to it not being a threat
He's a little fraidy cat sometimes
Ha, Ha. The penny thing didn't work with Toby either. But a spray bottle with water works wonders. Its so funny now, all I have to do is say "no" or "annt", and he shakes like I just sprayed him. Everytime he is told no he shakes the imaginary water off. LOL Too funny. He hates to get wet. And loved the rattle of the can, wanted to play with it.:)
See and for me the spray bottle only worked until Champ realized he could lick it off and continue whatever he was doing. They are hilariouse.
Jack responds differently to the spray bottle, he runs away and then he will just come right back. He doesnt do well with any kind of punishment really or positive guidence. i assume its because we rescued him last year and he was four, and had been abused. He seems to be more affected by my husband telling him no than me, but we can tell he knows Im alfa female and my husband is alfa male. He HATES the crate and the mussle the most, so when he is REALLY bad (hardly never) we mussle him. and thats ALL that really works. (for me anyway) its frustrating sometimes…but we get thru it.
Both my b's are under the covers with me at night.
Cody goes down to my feet, and Shasta is up on the second pillow.
Sometimes Cody gets too hot and moves up to be next to Shasta and myself.
Then, when Shasta moves, Cody gowles…..
He finds me pinning him down, saying this is NOT ok.
I hold him until he looks away and licks his lips.
We had to do this a few times, but now, I just have to raise the covers and Look at him and tell him to KNOCK it off!
He looks away and stops.
Sigh...nothing like this happening at 2am in the morning.
But its so funny...when I am at the computer and we have 3 dog beds right next to me, they both end up together in one!
So, its just a "I want that spot" growl...in my case.
Oh yea, Jack does that. and when he first did it it scared me, and then i got mad and pushed him completely off the bed. "THIS IS MY bed!! i dont THINK so!!" grr…
Oh, that works as well…b's get the message very quickly that growling isn't cool!
This has been a good thread. I have learned some new things. Joey does the really growly stuff with my kids when they try to move him. He will stop eventually, but when I tell him to knock it off, he stops immediately. He never growls, I like to say grumbles, at me. In my case, I don't think Joey would nip. He thinks he is number 2 and that's why he gets away with it with the kids. They think it's funny. I am still trying to get the kids to establish their dominance with Joey, but I don't think that will happen except with one of the kids. We have had Joey for almost one year. Anyway even though I am truly a Level 1 basenji owner, maybe level 0, and level 1 dog owner for that matter, I think that it is a B characteristic.
Have you taken your dog to a training class?
Brought the kids and let them work the dog with walking, sit, stay?
Might help everyone realize where they are in the family order.
How old are the kids and where did you get your basenji from?
My new b (7 months old) growls very threatenly like yours. Also like yours, I don't press the issue. I do try petting, soft talk, and then try again, but usually let it go for awhile and try again. Sometimes in a couple hours I can get him moved from my bed to the crate, and other times he spends the night in my my bed.
I haven't been bitten yet, but he has me convinced he would. We've only had him a few weeks, and hoping to over come it. My girl, Duchess, has NEVER growled in way with us.
You seem to be the only response on here that gets a convincing growling like I do. I have often read that some B's wake up grouchy, but this happens to me if he has just gotten comfortable not even asleep. So, I'm working on the problem hoping to over come it.
Duchess,
if yours is 7months old you should establish dominance and the growling will stop.
I have found with my 7month old that the soft muzzle is great for him when his play is way over the top for everyone or a behavior that is just crazy.
I will typically keep the muzzle hidden by me on the couch around the time in the evening when the wild behavior comes. It is like the terrible 2s, close to bed time but is fighting it.
Just put it on and use the mom tone of voice to establish the behavior is not okay. No yelling needed. Just put it on and put the pup on the floor alone. When the sulking begins ask for a sit and dont take it off until he/she sits. Then establish eye contact and dont take the muzzle off until he/she looks away first.
Works great!
My new b (7 months old) growls very threatenly like yours. Also like yours, I don't press the issue. I do try petting, soft talk, and then try again, but usually let it go for awhile and try again. Sometimes in a couple hours I can get him moved from my bed to the crate, and other times he spends the night in my my bed. I haven't been bitten yet, but he has me convinced he would. We've only had him a few weeks, and hoping to over come it. My girl, Duchess, has NEVER growled in way with us.
You seem to be the only response on here that gets a convincing growling like I do. I have often read that some B's wake up grouchy, but this happens to me if he has just gotten comfortable not even asleep. So, I'm working on the problem hoping to over come it.
Get some treats, train him to hop off the bed, train him to go into his crate. The first time you try it, you may have to lure him off the bed with a treat (bribe). But soon after you should give the behavior a cue (or command) like off, or floor. And then you should be able to give your cue, and then reward with the food. At this point, start having the food reward out of sight of the dog (in your pocket). You may have to use something super special, like turkey or cheese. After he is getting down (or crating) about 90% of the time with the food present, start to alternate the food reward with an enthusiastic "good boy", or something else that he likes.
In my house, this level of growling at humans would be completely unacceptable. If he growls at you in your bed like that, there is no way that he should be sleeping there. Everytime he gets to stay, it confirms in his mind that growling works.
I read a great quote on one of my other message groups:
Positive doesn't mean permissive 
I think you need to get your basenji to a gentle obedience class.
It will help you 2 learn to read each others body movements.
I would also use a squirt bottle have it by the couch and when he growls, squirt him.
Pretty quickly, he will make the connection growling=water.
But the class will help you with lots more than this.
<_Pretty quickly, he will make the connection growling=water.>>
A positive reinforcement training class would be a good idea. But sometimes a basic class won't address the issues of resource guarding.
I don't like to use squirt bottles for this type of behavior, because too often it teaches the dog not to growl, but doesn't change the *feeling the dog is having by being interupted in "his" spot. If you discourage the growl, a lot of dogs will go straight to a snap or bite. This is why you hear a lot of people say "he attacked without warning" …usually the warning growl has been "trained" out of the dog. So if you change the emotional response from "yuck, someone wants to move me"...to "yay, someone wants to move me" you've won the battle and the war._
